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Jaqi
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Jaqi



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upload_dateJun, 2015

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7 Comments |
Etna PRO+
 
Etna June 08, 2015
Beautiful shot
gregflynn
 
gregflynn August 21, 2015
You have captured a moment very well. Fantastic shot
DavidThorpePhotography
 
DavidThorpePhotography September 26, 2015
Thank you very much.
chris_smith PRO+
 
chris_smith September 30, 2015
Excellent image.
Millar_Images
 
Millar_Images July 29, 2016
Just stunning! Love the light, the mood, the location!
BrunoHeeb PRO
 
BrunoHeeb December 07, 2019
Stunning shot
ARUNASPINIGIS
 
ARUNASPINIGIS November 06, 2020
Fabulous

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at a beach on Longboat Key in Florida. It has a lot of big driftwood along the shore, which makes it my go-to beach for these types of shots.

Time

I always plan my beach photoshoots around the sunset. I've found that it's very difficult to get good light at a beach earlier in the day. The sun is bouncing light off of the sand and the water and it's hard to overpower it with speedlights. This was the last of three outfits we shot that day. As you can tell, the sun was about to drop below the horizon.

Lighting

When shooting outdoors I usually use two speedlights together on a light stand to light my subject. The key to this kind of shot is to set your camera's exposure for the background scenery, and then create the light on your subject with either off-camera flash or a reflector. I use a diffuser on each speedlight and shoot through a translucent umbrella if there's not too much wind.

Equipment

This was done with a Nikon D7000 and the kit 18-105 lens, handheld, with off-camera flash on a light stand.

Inspiration

When photographing people, you try a lot of poses. We had done some standing and kneeling, but when she sat in the sand and pulled her legs up into a modified version of what's known as the mermaid pose, I knew it was the shot I was looking for.

Editing

I always do a good bit of post-processing in Photoshop. I use Topaz Adjust to bring out the detail in textures of the wood and sand and the fabric of whatever the model is wearing. I also use a frequency separation technique on the skin because it softens without looking softened, and it also softens any shadows.

In my camera bag

I pack my Nikon D7000 with the 18-105 lens, and I bring the 50mm 1.8 prime lens. The 50mm isn't a great head shot lens because there is some expansion with that wide of a focal length, but it works well for full body shots when you want to throw the background out of focus. I also pack two Yongnuo speedlights. They are cheap but work well for the photos I do. I made a bracket to hold both of them on a light stand. When I need light coming from two directions, I put one of them on a light weight tripod. The rest of my gear consists of a Black Rapid camera strap and a white translucent shoot-through umbrella.

Feedback

Time of day is important when photographing people at a beach. The best light is very early in the morning just as the sun is coming up, and at the end of the day starting an hour or so before sunset. The only time I will try to do these at mid-day is after a storm has just blown through. It's cloudy enough to diffuse the sunlight and the sky is usually very dramatic looking after a storm. And that brings me to the other thing you want to watch for, and that is interesting skies. If there are no clouds, your entire background is water and blue sky. Not very interesting. In that situation I will try to position myself and my subject so that I'm looking down the beach instead of looking out to sea. Waves washing up onto the shore is a much more interesting background than plain blue sky.

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